Hiding
by SunSingularity
Summary: Everyone assumes that they know Jo Masterson. Maybe they don't.
1. Chapter 1

** Hiding**

**Chapter 1**

**A/N: This is set in some type of alternate universe/sometime in the not too distant future. Everyone thinks they know Jo Masterson. Maybe they don't.**

I heard him calling after me, but I ignored him and chose to run as fast as I could. Unfortunately, Green Grove isn't that big a place, and there weren't many places that I could go to be truly alone. The darkening sky did not bother me, and I purposefully avoided our hiding place, the diner, my house, or McNally Park; all places he might think to look. Instead I went to the place where I used to hang out, back in middle school, after he'd left and after Lacey decided she couldn't stand being around me for longer than several seconds at a time.

I went to the woods beyond McNally Park, where they had areas fenced off and rusted signs posted saying to 'Keep Out.' I found the spot in the fence that was broken and slipped through, slowing down now that I felt safe. I walked towards the small cave area that I knew to be back here, finding it hiding among the tall maple trees. I ducked into the cave, going far enough in to keep myself hidden but close enough to see the entrance.

I fished out my phone and switched it off, ignoring the missed calls and texts I'd received. I curled up in a little niche and pulled my legs up too my chest, wrapping my arms around them. Burying my face into my knees, I let myself cry it all out. I didn't know what Danny's motivation was and I was starting to wonder why I tried so hard to defend him. After Lacey broke up with Archie, I saw the looks between the two of them and knew that I was on my way to being forgotten about, _again_.

_Maybe he likes her because she was harder to convince and he likes the challenge of trying to get her on his side, but I'm done playing stupid little mind games, _I thought. If Danny enjoyed the challenge of a chase I could give him that, I could completely ignore him for all I cared because he'd brought nothing but trouble for me ever since he returned.

I cried until I had a hard time breathing and my head pounded. When I cried myself out and I couldn't cry anymore, I looked up. It was pouring outside, water flowing down into the cave. My pants and shoes were already wet. I sat there; breathing deeply until I felt calm enough to stand up and walk back home. I pulled up my hood and walked outside, getting soaked right away. I didn't try to run because I knew it would be pointless.

When I got to the fence, I slipped back through and exited onto the country road on the other side of the woods, choosing to take the long way home. I ignored the cold and trudged through the field that led to the back of my neighborhood when a brilliant flash of light caught me by surprise.

That brilliant flash of light was the last thing I remember seeing before everything went dark.

***Rico's POV***

"Hello?

"Rico, this is Chief Masterson," Jo's dad said on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, hello, how is everything?"

"Well, actually I was wondering if Jo was with you at the moment." I felt a surge of anger. Had Jo gone off with Danny and Lacey again?

"No, she isn't," I replied.

"I talked to Lacey Porter; she said that Jo isn't with her, either. Danny's with Lacey at the moment, so I was hoping you could tell me where she went because she isn't answering her phone." I stood up.

"I don't know where she could be, but I have a couple of places where I might look," I explained.

"Don't go out into the rain, Rico, it'll be fine. If you hear from her or see her, let us know, okay?"

"Sure," I said as he hung up. I grabbed my coat and told my parents I would be right back.

"Where are you going?" My mom wondered, glancing at the weather.

"Just to the library really fast," I replied and she nodded. The first place I looked was the diner and she wasn't there. I peeked in the library and didn't find her there, either. I even chanced to go to the hideout that she told me about to see if she was there, but instead I found Lacey and Danny. They were arguing and didn't notice me right away.

"So you're basing your decision on how Jo feels? What about what you want?" Lacey was saying.

"What I want is for people to stop assuming the worst of me, and right now, I don't have a lot of people on my side, so I can't afford to lose what few friends I have," Danny replied. I coughed loudly and they both turned to look at me.

"Rico? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Jo. Did her dad call you two?"

"He called me," Lacey said, "but she ran off over an hour ago and she won't answer her phone."

"So, you decided to argue with each other instead of go looking for her?" I asked and Danny at least had the sense to look ashamed of himself.

"She ran away from my house," Danny explained, "and we went to the diner and then here to look for her, but we haven't seen her."

"So you decided to take a break from looking for her to argue once you didn't find her in two different places," I said calmly. Lacey pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at me. Danny sighed.

"I don't know where else to look, Rico," Danny admitted.

"Well, you two can either come with me to look in a couple of other places or you can stay here, but I'm not stopping until I find her," I said. Danny looked at Lacey, who sighed in annoyance.

"We'll help," Danny said and followed me out of their hideout. It had stopped raining.

"So Jo told you about this place?" Danny asked and I nodded.

"She said you three built it when you were kids, a place to hang out to get away from everyone else when life was being too difficult to handle." They followed me to other various places that I thought Jo might decide to hide. The last one would be difficult to get too, and I warned them of this.

"I'm coming with you," Danny said firmly. Lacey agreed to come, but her mom called, insisting that she come home. She didn't argue and left, leaving Danny and I to search on our own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiding **

**Chapter 2**

***Danny's POV***

After Lacey left, I followed Rico around McNally Park, not paying attention to any of the differences made over the years. We took the long way around, heading towards the woods at the other edge of the park. Rico stopped walking so suddenly that I slammed into him.

"What?" I wondered, looking around. Rico pointed at something in the distance, in the middle of the soccer field. From far away, I couldn't tell what it was.

"That's a person," Rico said, walking towards the shape. I followed him, unsure. As we got closer, I knew he was right. Rico started to jog and I followed just behind him. As we got closer, Rico said,

"It's Jo! Something wrong with her…" We both stopped a few feet away. Steam was rising from her clothing and I smelled something odd.

"Do you smell something burning?" I wondered and Rico nodded. He approached her slowly and walked around in a circle.

"Oh God," Rico said slowly.

"What?" I ran around to see what he was looking at. Jo was on her side, her eyes closed and her arm stretched out before her. Blood leaked from her ears and against her hip was a large, black singe mark, as if something in her pocket had exploded. Her hair was frizzy all over the place and there was an odd, red mark on the back of her hand. Rico reached out and pressed his fingers to her neck.

"She has a pulse, but it feels…wrong. It's going way to slow," he said, leaning over her and gently rolling her onto her back. He held his hand over her nose and said, "She's barely breathing!"

"You call her dad and an ambulance, I'll make sure she doesn't stop breathing," I said quickly. Rico jumped up and pulled out his phone, dialing Chief Masterson. I knelt next to Jo and pushed her hair away from her face. I picked up her hand and studied the odd, red mark, shaped like a spider web, which traced its way up her arm. I held my hand near her nose to make sure she was still breathing and she was, but it was quickly slowing down, so I tilted her head up and balled the hood part of her jacket under her neck to keep it elevated.

I was so focused on Jo that I almost didn't hear the sirens wail.

"They're on their way," Rico said and I glanced up.

"What do you think happened to her?" I asked Rico, who looked around.

"I have no idea," he said. I checked her breathing again. It was so light that I could barely feel it. I held the side of my face close to her nose, feeling her exhale get weaker and weaker until… it stopped altogether.

"Shit…" I muttered, glancing up at Rico who was looking around for the emergency vehicles. I knew CPR, ironically, because I learned it in juvie. I got up on my knees and cupped her chin with one hand and pinched her nose closed with the other. I gave her two rescue breaths and then did chest compressions. I knew I had to do thirty chest compressions for every two rescue breaths, so I got a rhythm going. I did two cycles and quickly checked her breathing. Since she still wasn't breathing, I kept doing CPR. After one more cycle, Rico said,

"You're doing CPR!" I looked up at him during chest compressions. His eyes were wide with worry.

"Yeah, she isn't breathing, I have to do CPR," I said. He nodded and I went in and did two rescue breaths.

Rico started yelling, and when I looked up, I could see Jo's dad and an ambulance driving over the field, leaving muddy track marks. People swarmed the area and Jo's dad ran up, asking questions as the EMT's approached.

"What's happening?" He demanded. I focused on my counting and rescue breathing.

***Rico's POV***

Since Danny was busy, I explained what we found to Chief Masterson. I described how we saw her in the field and how she was breathing funny.

"Danny's doing CPR because I don't know how and she wasn't breathing," I finished quickly. The EMT's were getting a hand held stretcher out.

"You keep doing compressions, okay?" The EMT ordered Danny, who nodded, counting quietly out loud. The slid the stretcher underneath Jo and managed to strap her in, all while Danny continued giving her CPR.

"You're going to let him keep giving her CPR?" Chief Masterson demanded and the EMT shrugged.

"He's doing it perfectly, there's no reason to stop and switch people until he gets tired. Are you willing to ride in the ambulance?" He asked Danny, who nodded and then leaned in and gave Jo two breaths. Danny was able to keep doing compressions while they loaded her into the ambulance and closed the doors.

"I'll follow you to the hospital," Chief Masterson said quickly, "are you coming Rico?"

"Yes!" I jumped into the passenger seat and we sped toward Green Grove Medical Center.

***Danny's POV***

I performed CPR on Jo all the way to the hospital and into the emergency room. Jo's dad and Rico followed along, but were barred from entering the emergency area where I was.

After arriving, they took over and used an AED. I was ushered back into the waiting area where Jo's dad and Rico were pacing. Jo's dad called her mom and she came over quickly. Rico called his parents to let them know where he was and I figured that was my cue to call my mom and tell her what was going on. She didn't sound happy at all.

"Mom, I'm saving someone," I insisted and she sighed.

"I know, but I want you to be careful. If Chief Masterson starts to ask any weird questions, don't answer them," she said before hanging up. I hesitated, then texted Lacey, telling her we found Jo, but that something was wrong with her and we were at the hospital.

"Should I come?" She texted back and I looked around. We were all waiting and pacing.

"You can if you want too. Right now we're waiting to see what's going on," I texted back. Lacey didn't reply right away, so I slid my phone into my pocket to wait for her reply. As soon as I was done with my phone, Jo's parents started asking me questions about what happened, why was Jo in the middle of the field, did I see anything?

"Jo and Lacey had an argument and Jo left my house. I tried to call her and text her, but she wouldn't answer. You talked to Lacey on the phone about where she was and then Rico came around, saying he was looking for her, so we went with him. Lacey's mom texted her about something and she had to leave to Rico and I went out on our own. We found here there, I didn't see what happened before that," I explained. Chief Masterson narrowed his eyes at me and then went to talk to Rico, who was standing near the entrance, looking in the parking lot.

Mrs. Masterson smiled even though she looked like she was worried.

"Thank you, Danny," she said softly.

"You're welcome," I replied quietly. Chief Masterson came back to sit next to his wife; he now looked less irritated at me and more concerned about the situation. Rico's mom showed up, looking worried but happy to see her son doing well. I sat with the Masterson's, anxious about what was going on with Jo.

***Jo's POV***

_I was swimming through a huge, clear lake. The bottom of the lake was made of crystals, shimmering beautifully in a light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. I moved up toward the surface without trying too, soaring up past the water. It was beautiful and I could see things, pictures and images. I could hear whispering from some distant place and I turned to listen. The dizzying spin of voices and pictures began to fill my head, songs playing delicately in the background. I closed my eyes and let everything consume my mind. _

***Danny's POV***

We hadn't been waiting very long, but it felt like hours. Later, I found that we'd been waiting only thirty minutes. A doctor came in and said,

"Masterson?" Jo's parents jumped up and I stood, too. I was behind them. The doctor spotted me and said,

"Are you a family member?" Chief Masterson started to say no, but Jo's mom looked at him.

"He gave Jo CPR, Kyle. Yes, he can be here, too." She said firmly and the doctor led the three of us toward Jo.

"She's pulled through and we think she'll be okay. We can see brain activity and she doesn't appear to have any permanent damage. You gave her CPR?" The doctor asked, looking at me. I nodded.

"You did an excellent job, sir. You most certainly saved her life," he said. I smiled slightly, but I didn't want to appear like I was gloating. We walked into her room; she was hooked up to several different machines, but her eyes were closed.

"What happened?" Mrs. Masterson wondered, sounding like she was about to cry. The doctor checked one of the machines and turned to say, hesitantly,

"Well, we think she may have been struck by lightning."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiding **

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: So I'm going to attempt to incorporate elements of the show into this fic. Let me know whether or not this is a good thing! If you haven't seen the most recent episode, then you might not want to read this chapter.**

***Danny's POV* - TWO WEEKS LATER**

Lacey sat on my bed, staring at her phone.

"What's wrong?" I wondered, snuggling up next to her. She smiled slightly and then said,

"Archie's been pestering me since I broke up with him. Wanting to meet and talk about it more. I keep telling him that I need time and distance, and he listens for about two days, and then he goes back to his old habits." I sighed. There wasn't a whole lot I could do about that, at least not publicly. Lacey was still terrified to acknowledge our relationship. Jo was still in the hospital, locked into a coma since her incident. Her mother had cancelled all of her pottery classes and was spending all of her free time with Jo.

"I don't know what to tell you, Lacey. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I'll take care of it. He's just persistent, that's all."

"Can you blame him? You're definitely something worth fighting for," I replied and Lacey flushed with happiness.

"I love how you managed to turn my crazy ex bothering me into something positive, Danny," Lacey said. I leaned in for a kiss when my phone rang.

"Ignore it," Lacey mumbled, leaning in. I recognized the ringtone, though.

"Wait," I said, pulling it out of my pocket frantically. On the screen it had Jo's picture and her name. _What the hell is going on?_ I wondered. Lacey saw it and frowned.

"How is that possible? I though the doctor said her phone exploded when… in the accident," Lacey finished. I shrugged and answered the phone, putting it on speaker so that Lacey could hear it too.

"Hello?" I wondered.

Loud static crackled on the other end. Lacey and I stared at one another, frowning.

"Who is this?" I asked.

"Danny." Jo's voice came quietly through the static, as if she were very far away.

"Jo? Jo, are you awake?" I asked.

"Danny…" her voice was louder this time. Lacey opened her mouth to say something but I quickly covered her mouth with my hand, shaking my head frantically.

"Look, whoever this is, it's a disgusting joke and I don't appreciate it," I said angrily. The static started to fade and I thought whoever was on the other line would hang up until,

"Danny! It's me, Jo!" Her voice was loud and clear and it sounded exactly like her.

"You're in the hospital, how are you on the phone?" I demanded. The answer I got was static that got louder and louder until the call was dropped. I stared at my phone's blank screen.

"Someone must be playing a sick prank, Danny," Lacey said, shaking her head. I was about to agree with her when my phone rang again, this time, it was Karen Masterson. I answered it, putting it on speaker.

"Mrs. Masterson?"

"Danny, you told me to call you if anything changed with Jo. Well, something definitely changed," she said.

"What happened?"

"They're still doing tests, but her brain activity is being monitored by an EEG machine and it suddenly started doing crazy things. I just wanted to let you know," she said, sounding exhausted.

"Thank you, Mrs. Masterson," I said.

"No problem, come by and visit when you have a chance, I'm sure Jo knows that you're here," she said.

"Of course," I agreed. She hung up and I stared at my phone again.

"What are the chances that we get that phone call and then Mrs. Masterson calls us to say that Jo's brain activity changed?" I asked. Lacey was looking down at her hands.

"I don't know. Do you think that was Jo?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know," I said.

****Jo's POV****

_I walked along the white sand beach, the water glistening softly in golden light. Next to me was a creature that I could not describe. It had no gender; it barely had a form or body. It was made of light and crystal and reflection. The creature did not speak out loud, instead it communicated with pictures and thoughts. I was not scared of it; I knew what it was and what it intended. _

"_Guardian angel is a term used by humans for something much larger, much more complicated than that," it's thought appeared in my mind as if it were my own, except that I knew it came from it._

"_What should I call you?" I wondered out loud._

"_Call me Alexander."_

"_That's a masculine name," I replied._

"_If it makes you more comfortable to think of me in human terms, I will have the gender of male," Alexander responded, taking on a slightly less ambiguous form. A pair of electric, vibrant green eyes appeared in the face made of light and crystal. The eyes turned to look at me._

"_You know why you are here. We have kept you like this in order to make sure the transition is complete," Alexander explained. I nodded._

"_This will forever change your life, but it was always meant to be this way. It has been this way before and will continue again," Alexander's voice took on a masculine tone in my head. _

"_What about my family, my friends?" I asked._

"_Your family will be able to handle this, in time. The people you consider your friends will continue to surprise you, both in negative and positive ways. I will visit you, to check on your progress. You will not be alone in this," he said. I felt the warmth of Alexander's gaze upon me and I smiled. He felt like a father or an older brother, protective and loving. _

"_Are you ready to return?" He asked._

"_I suppose I have to be, whether I want to or not," I replied._

"_I will see you, in time, Jo Masterson," Alexander responded. Light began to grow between the two of us and I felt it surround me, push into my stomach and lift me up. I looked down and the last thing I saw was Alexander's bright green eyes and a pair of massive, white wings._

***Danny's POV***

School was painful. Although I could interact with Lacey at my house and in other secret places, she avoided my gaze and acted like I didn't exist at school. I agreed to this, so despite the fact that I didn't like it at all, I had to admit that I'd told Lacey I was okay with what we were doing. I hung around Rico, but he seemed very quiet and didn't talk much. Whenever I tried to hold a conversation with him, he would nod and listen and then bury his face into whatever textbook he was focused on at the time.

I sat alone at lunch, since Rico and I didn't share a lunch period. Lacey sat with Sarita and Phoebe. I knew she wanted to sit with me, she'd said as much in private. However, she also said she was afraid that Archie would suspect something if she sat with me.

"I don't want him to make your life more difficult than it has to be, Danny. If he thinks that I left him for you, he would make your life a living hell," Lacey said. Having Jo in the hospital made me realize how much I relied on her for social interaction at school and even in other areas of my life. I had no other friends since I was forced off the soccer team. Archie had convinced Collin that I was the one behind his food poisoning, and now Collin refused to talk to me.

I went back to pretty much being a social pariah, and the only other person who didn't seem to mind talking to me in public was Tyler Daly, Phoebe's brother. Two days after the strange phone call from Jo or someone pretending to be Jo, Tyler sat with me at lunch, quite randomly.

I looked up and he smiled. I didn't trust him at all. Why was he all of the sudden taking an interest in me or Jo?

"Jo being in the hospital has pretty much ruined your social life, hasn't it?" He immediately pointed out upon sitting next to me. I stared at him. It was obvious; did I really need to respond to this guy?

"Anyway, I was planning on stopping by and visiting Jo after school. Would you happen to know her favorite flowers?" I blinked and stared at him.

"When we were kids she liked lilies, but I don't know if those are still her favorites," I said finally. Tyler nodded.

"Cool, thank you. I suppose I'll leave you alone, then," he said cheerfully, getting up and going back to his table. I ate lunch alone and left the cafeteria.

***After School – Same Day***

I went to visit Jo in the hospital with Lacey, and Tyler was there.

"What's he doing here?" Lacey wondered.

"He's been asking about Jo a lot lately. I was never invited to his birthday party, he invited Jo and I sort of forced myself along," I replied. We walked into the room, Jo's eyes closed and her blonde hair fanned out behind her head in an odd sort of halo. Tyler had brought a huge bouquet of lilies and various other flowers. Mrs. Masterson was smiling and had put them near Jo's bed.

"That's so sweet of you, Tyler!" She said brightly, looking up at seeing Lacey and I.

"I hope Jo gets well soon," Tyler said, backing up toward the door. He smiled at the two of us.

"I shall see the two of you at school tomorrow, then," Tyler said, bowing slightly and disappearing through the door.

"What a strange boy…." Mrs. Masterson muttered. She smiled at Lacey and I.

"I'm so glad you two came to visit, come, and sit here!" She gave us a seat near Jo's bed. We sat there, silently.

"Has she made any progress?" Lacey wondered.

"She seems to be the same," she said with a sigh. Dark circles sat under her eyes and her eyes looked slightly puffy. I reached out and took Jo's hand, squeezing it.

"Jo, I'm here," I said. We were all silent, when I felt something. I sat up abruptly, watching Jo's face. Mrs. Masterson looked stunned at my sudden movement and Lacey looked perplexed.

"What? What are you doing?" Lacey wondered.

"Jo just squeezed my hand," I said frantically. Mrs. Masterson's eyes widened.

"But… her brain activity hasn't changed," Jo's mother said, looking at the machine that measured that. Lacey sat up.

"Are you sure, Danny? Maybe you squeezed her hand and…" Lacey trailed off, seeing the look of hope in Mrs. Masterson's eyes die away slowly.

"Danny?" I turned frantically back and Jo's blue eyes were staring back at mine.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiding - Chapter 4**

**A/N: So, I'm going to incorporate details from the episode into the story. If you haven't seen it, then go watch it before reading this chapter! Thanks for the reviews!**

***Jo's POV* **

The doctors came quickly and they forced Danny and Lacey out of the room so that they could shine lights in my eyes, poke my toes to test my reflexes and ask me a bunch of questions. They asked me my full name, age, birthdate, my parent's names and occupations, where I went to school, my home address and all sorts of other questions. I barely had a chance to see my mother when they rushed me from the room to give me a CT scan.

When they'd finished, I was wheeled back into the room and another doctor came in and introduced himself before asking me even more questions. His questions, though, had to do with what happened from the day of the accident. I could only remember part of that day, but I remembered everything I experienced while in a coma, which they said had lasted two weeks. I made a point of not mentioning any of the stuff I saw, felt or remembered from my coma and focused only on what I could remember from the day it happened, which was surprisingly little.

After two hours of questions, tests, blood work and being poked and prodded, they finally left me alone with my mom. Danny and Lacey must have left because they were nowhere to be found by the time they were finished.

I slept for a while, since apparently being in a coma is not the same thing as sleeping. I woke up several times, long enough to hear the doctor placating my parents and telling them that the fact I was sleeping was actually quite normal.

When I finally woke up and felt genuinely rested, I began to notice the changes. At first, it was faint, but I began to see shimmering outlines around everyone. I blinked a couple of times and then remembered what I'd experienced during my coma and it began to make sense. I had been warned that changes would occur and that they would come quickly.

The shimmering outlines slowly developed various colors and I could tell what the colors meant right away. The nurse that came in and checked my machines and vital signs and asked me if I needed anything had a vibrant yellow and green outline. I knew the yellow meant that she was optimistic, happy and generally cheerful. The green meant healing and empathy.

As more people came in and out, I noticed other color combinations and what they meant. I couldn't see the outlines around people on television or in photographs, though. My mom had soft colors in her outline, like lavender and sage green. I knew this meant she was a calm, happy person who was more connected with living things and enjoyed people and creativity. My dad's outline was a powerful, radiant shade of red and blue, which meant protection, determination and strength. The colors could mean a lot of different things, depending upon how bright they were.

The entire experience was beautiful and strange. I could tell how people felt about one another when they stood close enough for the outlying colors to touch. When my parents got close enough to one another, the lights between them turned a vibrant pink which meant love. My parents stuck around as long as they were allowed too and the doctors determined that other than a small amount of amnesia from that day, I was fine and could home the next day.

Once my parents left to take care of errands, I managed to pull myself up and go to the bathroom. I was eager to see myself in the mirror and see what colors appeared around me, but when I stared at my reflection I didn't see any lights at all.

***Danny's POV***

Lacey and I were kicked out as soon as the doctors realized that Jo was awake and talking. We hung around for about thirty minutes and when it was clear that they were going to be running tests and taking their time, we left. I felt so overwhelmed with everything. First, my mom goes and tells Chief Masterson that she killed Regina and they arrest her. Since I can't stay at home on my own, I have to go home with Chief Masterson and Mrs. Masterson. This would be my first official night with them. At that moment, though, I was more concerned about how Jo and I would get along in her house.

As soon as we were alone, I said,

"We should have told her, on our own terms, rather than let her find out like this." Lacey sighed in annoyance.

"Well, there's no point in talking about what we should've done, Danny, because now she knows."

"How? How did she find out?" I wondered,

"Does it matter? What are we going to do about everyone else? If Jo knows, then it's only a matter of time before other people find out," Lacey replied.

"Well, it'll be hard, but then we could be in public together, right?" Lacey looked at me as if she were trying to understand something rather difficult.

"You do know that Archie will make your life miserable once he finds out? Sarita probably won't ever talk to me again and while I don't think she'll go out of her way to make my life harder, she has no problem making life harder for you. I wanted to avoid all of this, Danny! I didn't want people to know because they aren't ready to know!" She stopped walking and frowned at me.

"Maybe you underestimate your friends. Phoebe seems nice enough, I bet she would get it," I said. Lacey sighed.

"Danny, I'm worried more about you than about me, okay? After everything else that's been happening, there's no telling what might happen next." Although she didn't say it out loud, I got the distinct impression that Lacey thought Archie was behind some of the weirdness that had been happening lately.

"I think the most important thing we need to focus on right now is Jo. She needs us and she's probably mad at us for keeping it a secret," I said, "Plus, there's not a whole lot we can do about the other stuff, right? Not unless we reveal our relationship," I pointed out. Lacey nodded slowly.

"I have to go home, my mom's been texting me," Lacey said, checking her phone, "Is your mom still down at the police station?"

"Yeah, I don't know how long they'll be holding her. I'll be sleeping in the Masterson's guest room until they figure it all out." Lacey already knew about the fact that I would be staying with them. She'd even helped me pack some of my things to take with me. She did not like the idea and thought it would complicate everything, but I didn't have a choice in the matter. It was either that or Child Services and there was no way I wanted to go through the foster care system.

"I guess you should go back to the hospital, then," Lacey said quietly.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later," I said, smiling. I leaned in for a kiss and she turned her head and walked away, hunching into the cold wind as she cut across someone's lawn and headed home.

***Jo's POV***

The next morning, they released me from the hospital. The lights surrounding people had become a steady thing now, and they became bothersome only when there were a lot of people gathered in one area.

When I woke up I remembered why I was angry with Danny and Lacey. Tyler showed me a video of them together, after Danny's party. I went to Danny's house while he was packing up to move in to our house temporarily to confront him. Lacey was there and I knew it was true, so I ran. That's when my memory got fuzzy again. Then I wondered: what would I see surrounding Danny when I saw him? Would I be able to tell if he was a sociopath based on this new ability?

The checkout process took a long time, my parents had to fill out paperwork and contact the insurance company. My mom said,

"Danny's in the waiting room, do you want to see him?" I was still mad at him, but…

"Yes, please," I said and she went and got him. My heart pounded the entire time. I looked down at my hands, even when I could hear their footsteps getting closer.

"Jo?" I heard my mom say and I looked up. Danny was surrounded by a shimmering, brilliant red with shots of yellow going through it; he looked like he was on fire. The red meant strength, determination, power and passion; it radiated off of him in waves. The yellow meant intelligence, cleverness and cunning. I blinked quickly in surprise; I didn't feel like anything radiating from his was bad or evil, just intense. Danny got close to me and I could see, when he got close, the colors that were near to me changed slightly.

The red and yellow faded to a pale, pale pink, which to me said friendship and happiness.

"Are you okay?" Danny wondered and I stopped staring down at his arm to look up at him. I couldn't tell him, I realized. He would think I was crazy. Everyone would.

"I think so," I said slowly, "I don't remember what happened, though. I was walking and then… I wasn't." I said. Danny nodded.

"The doctors, they said… they said you performed CPR on me until I got to the hospital, right?" I asked and Danny nodded again.

"Well, thank you. I don't really know how to repay you…" I said softly.

"What if you forgave me for keeping a secret?" he replied.

"Danny… that's different and you know it," I said. He sighed and sat down. I was in a wheelchair and he sat in the chairs that my mom had parked the wheelchair next too.

"I wanted to tell you, I really did. Lacey thought it would be a bad idea," he said.

"So… now that you're involved with each other, you're just going to do whatever she tells you?" I asked and Danny looked at me askance.

"She's concerned about what Archie might do, what other's might do, if they knew we were together. We're trying to keep it a secret, at least until people calm down." I looked down at my hands again.

"Danny, your mom just confessed to murdering Regina and you're going to be living at my house. Things are not going to calm down! How long will you let yourself be a secret? How long will you let someone else treat you like something they are ashamed of? " Danny leaned away from me suddenly and I looked up. The colors around him darkened slightly and I could tell I'd made him angry.

"It has nothing to do with shame and everything to do with how she feels. She cares about me enough to want to protect me from all of that extra drama. God knows I don't need anymore," he said. I hadn't seen Lacey, so I wouldn't know her true motivations until I could see what colors surrounded her, what she really wanted.

"How long have you kept this a secret?" I asked and Danny ran his fingers through his hair.

"Does that matter?" He wondered and I turned to look at him sharply.

"That sounds like something Lacey would say. How about you answer the question instead of dodging it!" I hissed, feeling myself get angry again. Danny looked at me quietly.

"Several weeks," he said, "we… we kissed at Fall Fest, after you and I danced," he admitted. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. That dance was something I liked to think about from time to time, something I could remember as special and meaningful, even. The dance had been a moment between Danny and I that was just ours, so I thought. Apparently it meant nothing to him or it only meant friendship and nothing else. I didn't know why I was so surprised, though. He'd said he thought of me as a sister to Tyler. Now, though, I knew…. I knew that he'd been lying to me.

"Jo?" Danny wondered. He reached out to take my hand and I drew it away from him.

"Jo, please don't…"

"Don't what, Danny?" I muttered, "Don't get mad? Don't feel like I've been made into the most horrible kind of third wheel there is? Don't be so sensitive? You know what? Leave me alone. I spent the last five years without you and I can spend the next five years without you too. I'm done being lied to and made to look like an idiot. I've been trying to help you ever since you got back and you apparently don't trust me at all because as soon as Lacey came along you decided it was okay to lie to me. You and Lacey can have each other for all I give a shit about it. I hope that lie comforts you when you sit alone at school, without your girlfriend, who won't acknowledge that you exist in front of her real friends," I hissed, grasping at the wheels on my new wheelchair, and steering myself down the hallway, refusing to look back at his shocked face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiding - Chapter 5**

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I've incorporated information from the show and released clips I've seen for episode 1x09, so keep that in mind. **

***Jo's POV* **

It was odd, having Danny at my house. I couldn't get away from him, so I ended up spending most of my time in my room to avoid him. The first couple of days I spent at home, I used my time to catch up on the work that I'd missed at school and to sleep. I didn't see much of Danny because I chose to ignore him. My mom seemed concerned about the whole thing.

"Are you and Danny fighting? What's wrong?" She wondered one day, at the breakfast table. Danny wasn't there and my dad had gone to work early.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just exhausted, that's all. I feel like there's so much stuff I have to do since I missed two weeks of school," I said.

"Well, if things are uncomfortable with Danny you can talk to me, right?" I nodded, feeling guilty that I didn't feel like I could tell my mom what was really going on. I felt even guiltier because I was mad at Danny because he'd lied to me about him and Lacey, yet I was lying to him about being able to see things since my coma. _It's not the same thing; _I tried to convince myself, even though I didn't really believe that. I avoided Danny at school, making a point to sit with Rico and not talk to Danny when he attempted to sit next to us. Rico noticed.

"Are you and Danny having some kind of fight?" Rico wondered quietly when he and I were alone.

"Yes," I admitted, sitting on the front lawn of the school, our books out in front of us.

"He saved your life Jo, and you're already fighting with him?" I sighed.

"There's a good reason, Rico. He and Lacey are a thing, apparently, and they decided not to tell me," I revealed. I swore Rico to secrecy, but honestly, I didn't think the whole thing would be kept secret for long. Tyler could reveal it if he wanted too, and I hadn't told Danny that. Yet another lie that made me as guilty as he was.

"So, Danny and Lacey are together but she wants to keep it a secret?" Rico asked, sounding incredulous. I nodded.

"And he's been lying to you about it for several weeks now," Rico said and I nodded again.

"And you got mad at him for lying to you," Rico continued.

"Yes, and I told him that he'd promised to not lie to me and I was done being made to look like an idiot. Maybe I'm too trusting, Rico. Maybe I'm too nice to people," I glared down at my Calculus homework.

"You're too nice to the wrong people, I guess," Rico said, "I know that you've known Danny a long time, but has he given you a good reason to trust him?" I looked up. Rico's shimmering lights were mostly blue and calm looking.

When he was close to me, it flared pink. Not pale pink, like friendship. Bright pink, like love. I'd known, my first day back at school, that Rico had feelings for me. I didn't know what to think about it. I tried to wrap my brain around the idea of being with Rico in a romantic way. _He's pretty cute, _I thought privately, _but could I see him as more than a friend?_ I didn't know. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything, how would I explain myself?

Lacey's lights had been a misty gray color, which to me said ambiguity and conflict. She didn't know who she was or what she wanted. She was stuck in the middle. I made sure to pay attention to her and Danny when they got close. Her lights flared red, which mean passion, but Danny's flared pink, for love. I got the feeling that Lacey didn't quite feel the same way about Danny, not really, that he did about her.

Being able to see the lights around people complicated many things. Archie's lights were a muddy brown and black, indicating he was in a depression. I felt bad for him. I couldn't reveal any of this to anyone.

I looked at Rico, who was waiting for my answer.

"I was basing my trust on having known him for so long. Everyone deserves a chance, don't they?" I wondered and Rico shrugged.

"Maybe they don't," I said, feeling angry again. Rico looked mildly surprised.

"So, you don't trust him?" He wondered.

"Not anymore, Rico. Not after this. Him living in my house makes it all the more awkward," I revealed and Rico nodded, tapping his pencil on his notebook.

"Look, I need to use the bathroom; I'll be right back, okay?" I said, getting up and leaving to go inside.

"Sure thing," Rico said, watching me leave. The bathroom was thankfully empty and I immediately took over the handicapped stall. I sat and took deep breaths, trying to get ahold of myself. I closed my eyes and counted to five, slowly. At five, I opened my eyes and jerked up, stunned. Alexander, from my coma, stood there, staring at me. All I could see was an immensely bright light with green eyes in the middle.

_Are you happy, Jo Masterson?_

No, I thought to him, I'm not happy.

_Why not?_

Because Danny lied to me about him and Lacey. Even though he said he thinks of me as a sister, I was hoping that maybe there could still be a chance, one day. Now I know that there won't be. I don't want to be with Tyler because he's just as manipulative. Now I've discovered Rico likes me, too and it's all getting so complicated. I hate myself sometimes. I hate how vulnerable I make myself, how people can just tell what I think right away. Plus, I'm not talking to Danny because he lied to me and I'm lying to him! I'm such a hypocrite sometimes and it makes me mad. I want to be put together, sophisticated…. I don't know, bitchy, even, I revealed to Alexander.

His response indicated that he was doing the telepathic equivalent to smiling.

_Then why don't you be those things?_

It's not that simple, I replied, people think I'm smart Jo Masterson. They don't think anything else about me unless they're making fun of my hair.

_Why not? _

I don't look like any of those things, I replied with my thoughts.

_Then make yourself look like those things. Act like those things. This is your life, Jo Masterson. I came to warn you that your abilities will be gaining a new component._ I got nervous.

What do you mean?

_You will be able to do more than just see people's auras, for that is what you can see. An aura is the essence that makes up their soul, their unconscious, whatever you want to call it. You will know immediately when it occurs; I'm not allowed to reveal it to you. _

So, I'll be able to see something else?

_Yes, you will. _

And you're pretty much telling me that if I want to be those things I need to look like those things, right?

_Yes, if you think that will help you. _

I don't even know where to start.

_Find someone you admire that has those qualities and emulate them._

You make it sound so easy.

_It is easy; you just have to make the decision._

Okay, then that's what I'll do. I'm a new Jo Masterson, I told him.

In that instant, someone opened the door and Alexander winked out of existence. I flushed the toilet even though I hadn't used it and opened the door to find Lacey, checking her makeup in the mirror. She looked at me silently. I stared at her, keeping my face blank. I washed my hands.

"Jo, I…"Lacey began, but I walked passed her as if she wasn't even there, leaving her alone in the bathroom.

_*****_**Danny's POV***

"I tried to talk to Jo in the bathroom, but she just looked at me like I wasn't even there," Lacey said. I sighed.

"Why are you trying so hard? If she doesn't want to talk to you anymore then leave her alone," Lacey said.

"Lacey, Jo and I have known each other since before I was potty trained, okay? I'm not giving up on her, not ever," I said. Lacey bit the inside of her mouth and I could tell she was frustrated.

"I'll try talking to her at home, today," I said.

"You mean.. . At the Masterson's home," Lacey corrected.

"Yes, that's what I meant," I said. Lacey and I spent the afternoon together in her room, but I got the feeling she was mad at me because I was upset that Jo was mad at us. She didn't say anything and I left before five so that I could get to dinner on time. I walked back the Masterson's house and said hello to Mrs. Masterson, who was in the kitchen.

"Hey Danny! Have you seen Jo around?" She wondered.

"I saw her after school, studying with Rico. Maybe they went to the diner?" She nodded.

"Is Jo answering her phone?" I wondered.

"She hasn't yet, and it's starting to worry me," she replied. I went and put my things away in the guest room and came back downstairs. She looked relieved.

"She texted you?" I asked and she smiled.

"Yes, she said she's running late and that she'll be here in an hour," Mrs. Masterson looked relieved. Since I was pretty much alone, I went back upstairs and worked on homework. I got my math work finished easily enough, along with some science and history. I had to read for English and that wasn't terribly difficult. I'd gotten most of the way through the chapter when I heard the door open downstairs. Mrs. Masterson said something and Jo responded. I marked my place in the book and went to go downstairs when I heard Mrs. Masterson shriek.

I bolted through the door and raced down the stairs.

"What's going on, are you okay?" I asked. Mrs. Masterson's eyes were wide and she turned to look at me briefly before looking over at Jo. I descended the rest of the stairs and stepped into the kitchen.

"Jo! What did you do to yourself?!" Mrs. Masterson gasped.

***Jo's POV***

Danny was staring at me with his eyes practically popping out of his head. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"I wanted to change it, so I did," I replied calmly. I decided that the first step as the new Jo Masterson was to do something about my hair. So I had gone to a salon and asked the woman to make it beautiful. She'd chemically straightened it before lightening it up considerably. I would say it could be classified as bleach blond, practically. I'd bought some makeup, but had not yet tried any of it on.

"It's….really blonde," Danny said, "and straight."

"Yes." My mom came closer and examined it.

"I…well, I suppose you used some of that money you had saved up?" I nodded.

"Okay. I wish you would have told me before going out and doing this, but it looks nice, Jo. Just don't surprise me like that again!" I smiled.

"Do you need special shampoo?" She asked and I nodded, holding out the products that the salon had given me.

"I have some," I replied, as she looked at the bottles in the bag.

"Well, uh… dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes, so be on time. You should probably text your father before he sees it," she advised, turning back to the chicken on the counter.

Danny was still gaping at my hair as I walked towards the stairs. He followed me up and grabbed my arm, stopping me before I made it to my room.

"Why?" He wondered.

"Does it matter?" I replied, using Lacey's favorite phrase to dodge a question. Danny let go of my arm.

"Jo… are you having some kind of weird mental thing, because of the coma?" Danny asked and I turned to glare at him.

"Changing my hair means I'm having some weird mental thing? Maybe I wanted to change it Danny, why do you care anyway?"

"I care because I'm your friend and I'm worried about you, that's why," he said quietly.

"If changing your hair is a sign of a weird mental thing then someone needs to tell Phoebe Daly that she needs a psychiatric evaluation," I snapped.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Do we really need to rehash this, Danny? I'm mad because I decided to make a change to my hair and you assume I'm having some kind of mental breakdown. If any other girl at school had changed their hair it would be no big deal. You probably wouldn't even notice until she asked you, 'Do you notice anything different' and then you'd stand there, staring at her, trying to figure out what it was. Since Jo Masterson is the one changing her hair, that obviously means she's crazy!"

"I didn't mean to make it sound that way, it's just…you wouldn't normally do that so I was just…."

"You were just….? Being nosy, that's what you were _just_. Don't pretend to care about me when you're just mining me for info to see how I found out about you and Lacey. I'm not stupid Danny, so cut the crap," I hissed. His eyes narrowed.

"I do care about you, it's not pretending. If I didn't care about you I wouldn't have put so much effort into looking for you with Rico and giving you CPR!"

"So it's okay to lie to me after promising you wouldn't? Since you saved my life, I'm supposed to put up with your bullshit? No, I don't think so. I thanked you for saving me but that doesn't give you free reign to treat me however you please and then I'm supposed to just lie there and think of England while you screw me over."

"I'm not screwing you over! I'm trying to be happy!" _I wondered how happy Lacey was making him; did she ask him about his favorite things? _

"You're trying to be happy in a relationship you can't even share with anyone else, Danny. You can't go to the movies with each other! You can't even sit together in the cafeteria!" Danny's facial expression grew serious and I could see the outline of his aura growing dim and cloudy. He was getting angry.

"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Lacey thinks of your relationship differently than you do?" I asked, before giving him a chance to retort.

"What? What does that have anything to do with what we're talking about?"

"Who has the power in the relationship, Danny? Is it equal?" I wondered curiously and he frowned.

"Do you make decisions as a couple or does Lacey make decisions for the both of you and you go along with it? Who decided it should be a secret, you or her?" I knew all of this of course, but I wanted Danny to think about it. Danny sighed and grabbed my arm, pulling me into my room and shutting the door behind me.

"Why do you care so much about Lacey and me being together?"

"Because, Danny! I'm trying to help you and you're running around, doing things to make it more difficult! You aren't acting like someone who is trying to blend in. What do you want?" I asked.

"I don't know anymore, okay?! I don't know!" He said loudly, the aura surrounding him looking like it was undergoing some type of thunderstorm.

"I won't blend in, no matter what I do. Did I tell you that I've seen those masked people before? The ones that were at the party? Lacey and I were in McNally park and…. And they came up to us. I threw something at them and they left, but I've seen them before," he said. I wanted to resist the urge to get pulled back into the mystery, but this had me interested and made me angry.

"So those people know you're together, too. Perhaps you two should just come out with it already, on your own terms, instead of waiting for it to happen through them. You be in control," I said.

"Look Danny, I…" I started to say, but my phone beeped. I looked down at it.

Tyler texted me, saying,

"The video I showed you of Lacey and Danny at the party? The person who sent it to me just uploaded it to YouTube."

"What?! Who uploaded it, what's their screen name?" I texted back frantically.

Tyler answered,

"DannyDesai-TheSocio."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiding - Chapter 6**

**A/N: **

***Jo's POV* **

I didn't even have a chance to tell Danny. His phone went off right after I got the text; it was Lacey calling him. He answered it, ducking out of the room and heading off to the guest room.

"Are you going to tell him?" Tyler texted.

"Lacey just called him, so I don't know," I replied. I almost forgot dinner, and when my mom called up to us, I walked down but didn't see Danny.

"Is he upstairs?" My mom wondered. I shrugged and went back upstairs to see what was happening. I knocked on the guestroom door and Danny opened it slowly. His aura was the color of blood and I stepped back quickly. He looked up at me.

"Someone posted the video to YouTube under the user name DannyDesai-TheSocio," he said. I acted alarmed, only because I knew I would have too.

"Did Lacey see?" I asked and he nodded.

"What happened?"

"She broke up with me. She thinks I filmed us and posted the video," he said.

"Why would she think that?" I gasped.

"Apparently whoever opened the account sent her a message, pretending to be me. She said that I've lied so much about other things that she can't tell when I'm telling the truth and when I'm lying," he said.

"Jo?" My mom called up and I sighed.

"I know this is a bad time, but… my mom has dinner ready." I said quietly. Danny nodded, tossing his phone onto the bed and closing the door.

"I'll eat with you," he said softly. He followed me downstairs and I could see that my dad was sitting at the table already. Luckily, I texted him about my hair before the melodrama began, so he didn't have a blow up. While I dealt with my mom and dad's comments about how I'd changed my hair, I noticed Danny staying unusually silent and subdued. Part of me felt really sorry for him, but the other part was angry.

_He got himself into this mess by keeping it a secret. If he knew there were pranksters following him and Lacey around, why would they continue to see each other? _I thought to myself as I poked at my mashed potatoes.

_You're just angry at him because you still like him,_ a sneaky little voice in my head answered and I quickly shoved it away.

"Danny, you're awfully quiet tonight," my dad noted, taking a bite of salad. Danny glanced up. He'd eaten much of his food.

"I'm tired, that's all. All of this stuff happening and my mom and everything," he said.

"Well it won't last much longer," my dad replied confidently, "I can't really say more than that, but you won't have to worry." Dinner was pretty quiet, Danny didn't feel like talking and after all the conversation about my hair finally died down, we ate mostly in silence. Danny finished early and excused himself, leaving to go back upstairs. I didn't bug him when I was finished and focused on finishing the remainder of my makeup work for school.

People at school were freaking out about the video, though. I ended up logging out of all my apps just to avoid the notifications popping up every couple of seconds. I got ready for bed and was in my pajamas when I knocked on the door to the guest room.

"Danny? Do you want to talk or should I leave you alone?"

"I thought you were mad at me," he replied.

"I am mad at you. I'm mad that you lied to me," I said to the door. He opened it. He was wearing a pair of baggy flannel pants and gray t-shirt.

"I told you, I wanted to tell you. Lacey didn't see any reason too and since she had way more to lose than I did in the situation, I just… did what she asked," he said.

"Okay, well I'm still mad because you didn't tell me," I said and Danny sighed.

"I understand your reasoning behind it but that doesn't stop me from being mad at you. How can you say that I'm the most important person to you and then you lie about this?" Danny studied me for a moment.

"You're mad at me but you're talking to me," he said, "are you mad at Lacey?"

"Yes I'm talking to you and no, I'm not really mad at her." Danny turned and gave me a strange look.

"How can you be mad at me and not her?"

"Because, Danny, we're supposed to be best friends, right? That's what you said, right? Well, Lacey and I aren't really good friends anymore so she has no reason to tell me anything. I don't tell her everything either, so I can't get mad at her for doing something I do too. You are not acting like a good friend and I don't care that you two just broke up, that doesn't magically cancel out any of the previous things you've done. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry if you feel heartbroken or anything. I still expect an apology for the lies, though," I said. I turned and walked toward my room, leaving Danny standing there and looking both baffled and frustrated.

"How can you feel sorry for me and be mad at me all at once?" He wondered.

"Because I have emotions, Danny! I can feel two things at once about someone," I replied from my bedroom door.

"I don't understand girls at all, all this time in juvie has made everything even more confusing," he grumped before closing the door. I didn't expect an apology right away. I knew he would sit there and stew in anger about everything.

I slid into bed and turned off the lamp, wondering what Sarita, Phoebe, Scott and Archie and everyone else would do at school tomorrow. Especially how they would treat Lacey.

_A thick, gray fog enveloped a field of lavender. I stood in the middle of the field, turning to look around. There was nothing but purple flowers and mist in all directions. I felt an urge to move, so I walked forward. I could hear something moving in the mist._

"_Alexander?" I wondered, looking around._

_I'm here, he said. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him._

"_Is this what you mentioned earlier? About my abilities changing?" I asked._

_Indeed._

_I looked around, unable to find any source for his voice. I walked until I could see the vague outline of a tree, shrouded in thick, dark green leaves. Alexander appeared there, his outline indistinct and bright, with his green eyes in the middle. He wasn't as luminous as he normally seemed, so it was easier to look at him._

"_What exactly is going to happen?" I wondered._

_I'm not permitted to tell you in a straightforward manner, Alexander noted. I sighed._

_This is part of what you agreed to during your coma, you knew that there would be changes and that the transition would be difficult, he explained. _

"_How do I use the information from the auras to help me? I'm not going to tell them what I see!" _

_It will take time and practice; this isn't something you will master overnight. I'm here to warn you, however, that the change that is currently taking place within you will be rather jarring and difficult to get used too. I will be there when you wake up to help you. _

"_So, when I wake up, something will be different?"_

_Yes, this is sort of like… a waiting room, for your transition. I sat beneath the tree with Alexander. I didn't feel anything or sense anything odd or different._

"_Should I tell Danny about what I can do?" I wondered. Alexander drifted around in the air as if he were floating._

_Can you trust him? Do you think he will believe you? Will he tell others? Alexander wondered._

"_I trust him with my secrets, but he doesn't apparently trust me with all of his. He says he's protecting me," I said. Alexander smiled through our thoughts._

_He is protecting you, he said. I jerked up._

"_You know what he's protecting me from? What is it?"_

_I can't tell you that, it is not my secret to reveal. All I can say is that he is telling the truth in that regard. I sighed in frustration and Alexander said,_

_You are about to wake up, Jo Masterson. Be ready. _

_The edges of the landscape began to fade away in thickening layers of fog. The fog got closer and closer until I couldn't see anything but gray in all directions._

"Alexander?" I woke myself up saying his name. I blinked. The sun was not up; I glanced at my alarm to see that it was 4am.

My heart pounded loudly in my ears and goose bumps prickled up and down my arms. The hair rose up on my arms and neck. _Alexander?_ I wondered in my thoughts, feeling a sudden rush of nervous adrenaline.

_I'm here._

_I'm scared about what's about to happen. I have a bad feeling, _I told him.

_The ability itself is neither evil nor good, it is ambivalent. What matters is how you choose to use it, _he replied. The room suddenly got very cold; I could see my breath puffing out in front of me.

"Are you sure?" I hissed out loud, pulling my covers up to my chin.

_Yes._

"Oh God, this is some sixth sense crap, isn't it?" I said out loud, shivering uncontrollably. Alexander didn't answer, which I took to mean that it was.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God…." I muttered, my eyes frantically checking the corners and shadows of my bedroom. It was too dark in some of the corners to tell anything. I sat there for a long time, waiting for something to happen. I'd almost given up, but the temperature was still cold, when out of the corner of my eye, a shadow shifted closer to the bed.

I whipped my head around and stared at it. It moved closer. I could only see shadows until it stepped into the moonlight.

Tara Desai. At the foot of my bed with a black ligature mark around her neck and blood in her eyes and bruises across the side of her face.

I screamed as loud as I could and she dissipated slowly, the last thing visible, her bloody eyes. I dove under the covers, muttering out loud,

"Alexander you should have warned me!"

It took a grand total of five seconds for my bedroom door to fly open. Danny stood there, looking wide awake and alarmed.

"What?" He demanded. He looked around suddenly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion when he could see his breath puff out in front of him.

I looked at him from my bed. My mom soon appeared behind him, looking concerned. The temperature was still cold, but it was quickly warming up.

"Jo?" My mom wondered.

"It was a dream… I'm sorry," I said, rubbing my face.

"You're okay then?" My mom said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for waking you up," I apologized. She smiled.

"It's not your fault," she said, "You two go back to sleep, okay?" Danny nodded and went back to the guest room. My mom closed my bedroom door and walked away. I sat there in bed for almost two minutes before my bedroom door opened again and Danny stood there, looking at me strangely.

"A dream?" He asked.

"Yes, a dream," I said. He walked in and sat on my bed.

"Why was it so cold in here?" He wondered. I looked down at my covers, unable to answer.

"Jo, what is going on with you? You've been acting weird lately," he said.

"Nothing is going on," I started to say but Danny shook his head.

"Yes, something is going on. You can't get mad at me for lying to you and then turn around and lie to me!"

"This is different," I said.

"How?"

"You would never believe me, you would think I was crazy," I explained.

"We won't know that if you don't give me a chance to redeem myself," he said promptly.

"Danny… you don't understand. This is completely different, it's…it might make you decide to never associate with me again," I said. He frowned.

"The only way I would never be around you again is if you murdered Regina and have been framing me this whole time," he said. I grinned hesitantly. He smiled.

"Well that's not it," I said.

"I figured it wasn't. Give me a chance, please?" I could see his aura; it was brightening back to its vibrant flame red and yellow.

"I don't know, I mean, you're going to be dealing with all of this crap at school with the video and everything and it's probably a bad idea to just put more stuff on top of that stuff on top of your mom trying to protect you, and…"

"JO." I stopped talking. Danny sat there, looking both amused and frustrated.

"I can handle it. Give me a chance to handle it!" I sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but before you decide whether or not to believe me, let me explain it all, okay?" He nodded slowly.

I started by explaining a little bit about what I'd experienced in my coma, about the lake made of crystals and the light and Alexander.

"Who is Alexander?" Danny asked.

"More like what is Alexander. That's just what I call it, but it doesn't really have a gender since it's made of light," Danny looked incredulous.

"I know how it sounds, okay? Would I make something as weird as this up?"

"Okay…I'm listening," Danny said. I explained that Alexander was like a guide who had been helping me since my coma, and that as my guide, he had prepared me for _changes._

"Changes?" Danny wondered.

"Yes, it gets weirder," I said. I told him about auras and being able to see them and to instantly know what they meant for each person. Danny stared at me like I'd grown another head.

"I'm not making this up, I swear!" I hissed.

"So, you see rings of light around people called auras?"

"Yes, Alexander said that they revealed the inner workings of a person's soul," I said, "only I can't see my own aura and I can't see aura's of people in photos and on television, it screws it up somehow."

Danny was silent. After a moment he murmured,

"Can you see mine?" I nodded slowly.

"What does it look like?"

"Its… you look like you're on fire. You're surrounded by bright red and yellow and bits of orange." Danny sat there gazing at me curiously.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you feel everything very intensely, that you're passionate about whatever it is you do. You're clever and cunning and you understand others better than they understand themselves, sometimes," I said. Danny smiled slowly.

"That's… a really good description," he said finally.

"What about this dream you had? What does that have to do with auras?" I sighed.

"Well, it's this other thing I can do, now," I replied. Danny frowned slightly. He hadn't said whether or not he thought I was telling the truth or lying about the aura thing.

"So you can see auras and do something else?" I nodded.

"Like what?" I was even less eager to share this one.

"Do you dream about the future?" He wondered. I shook my head.

"I screamed because your Aunt Tara was standing at the foot of my bed, staring at me."


End file.
